Pokérus
by ZYGS
Summary: Pokémon teen drama following the lives of six teenage students and ex-students from Celadon City. Strong language, drug use, sexual scenes and mild violence. You have been warned.
1. Episode 1: Chapter 1

The black phone lying on the side of the table suddenly burst into life.

Curtis Springs opened his eyes slightly and let the intense bursts of light slip through and burn his eyes. He attempted to muster up the strength to move his arm up and bring his watch into his line of sight, but stopped short and instead tilted his head to the right, brushing his long, brown hair off his face. His phone danced on the bedside table, seemingly nudging the Pidgey-themed alarm clock next to it, which glistened with the numbers 8:46 in bright, neon digits.

_8:46? Who the fuck phones people this early in the morning?_

He half-heartedly reached for the phone before lazily sliding it towards his ear.

"Hello?"

"_Curt? Hey, it's me! I'm back from my journey now!"_

"Vince…?" Curtis only managed to utter a short response. "What are you…?"

"_Remember, mate? Indigo Plateau? You know, Pokémon League, all that shit? Well, you know since it's the first time I've seen the guys in quite a few months, we're all coming down to Celadon Park, near the gym. Meet me there in 20, okay?"_

"But Vince, mate…" He tried to murmur an excuse about how he was ill, but as soon as he found the right words Vince had already hung up. He stared at the message displaying on his phone:

**Disconnected call 0:19**

"Oh, for fuck's sake…" Curtis slammed the phone down with annoyance before tossing the blanket aside. He knew Vince had just come back from a journey that had taken him all the way around Kanto and to the Indigo Plateau, but at that moment, as he slipped on his grey jeans and glasses and combed back his brown mess of hair, he couldn't help but wonder why he was friends with him. This thought kept processing through his head, even as he slipped out into the warm, fresh Celadon City air.

* * *

It was about half an hour of aimless wandering around the park before he finally noticed Vince, smoking a cigarette with a whole bunch of people in the middle of the lawn, along with his trusty Scyther. He couldn't help but notice how out of place Vince's first Pokémon looked compared to all his mates around him, even though he knew too well how tame it was.

"Curtis!" Upon seeing him, Vince got up almost immediately, his dark, wavy hair glistening against the morning sun. "You're late, where the hell have you been?" His tone sounded quite positive, but as Vince hugged him Curtis couldn't help but feel a sting of bitterness in that. Vince always seemed to have a way of getting to him.

"Yeah, hey, Vince…" Curtis glanced at the people around him. He remembered some from school, but he dropped out of school the year before. It really just didn't seem that attractive to him. But looking around at the old faces, and some new ones as well, brought back memories of the time he had there.

"Hey, Curtis, man! It's been a while, yeah?"

Curtis turned around, noticing a familiar face whom he hadn't seen in quite a while.

"Oh, hey there Alton," Curtis replied, walking over to him hesitantly. "How's life been?"

"Oh you know, the usual stuff, right?" Curtis noticed Alton had grown out his once-short ginger hair into a decently sized afro. Alton was 17, only around a year older than he was, and was pale-skinned. His image, which now consisted of a T-shirt with an Absol decoration on it and brown cargo shorts, didn't really seem to strike Curtis as the most impressive outfit in the world, and that was slightly surprising when he noticed the two girls Alton had on his shoulders. He recognised one; the girl on his left shoulder, Wysteria. She was resting her head against Alton while playing with her long, straight, blonde hair. Curtis knew those two had had some sort of thing when he was still at school, but he didn't realise they were still together. The girl sitting by his right he had no idea about; she was tanned, with platted dark auburn hair. As he glanced over at her, he saw her gazing back, almost seductively.

"You get me, right? Sleep all day, party all night?"

Curtis snapped out of his thoughts almost as quickly as he had entered them. "Oh right, yeah… you could say that," Curtis managed to reply. "I-I haven't seen you in a while, yeah? Where've you been?"

"Mate, I've been _all_ the way round, like everywhere man," Alton said, almost dreamily. "Parties all over Kanto, you know?" Alton pulled the girls closer to him slightly, as if to emphasize. "Guys round here can't have any sort of rave without me hearing about it!"

Curtis laughed nervously. "Yeah, I guess…"

Alton let out a loud burst of laughter. "Don't worry mate, I can get you in literally anywhere you want, right? Just say the word. If you don't believe me, feel free to ask anyone."

"Yeah, sure, I mean like…" Curtis stumbled on his words. The tanned girl giggled slightly.

"You know, there's one in Saffron City like…this weekend. Proper hardcore, you know? Not like the pussy parties you get round Vermilion and stuff, like properly hardcore. I mean, Luxray Guard are playing. You heard of them lot?"

Curtis nodded; he remembered all too well about how Alton kept going into tangents about parties.

"Well, see, Vince was invited, but since I'm the one arranging tickets I really don't want him to go, you know? So, I was wondering…you up for a little partying?"

"This weekend…?" Curtis tried his hardest not to stammer again. "I'll see if I'm free, okay?"

"Alright then, mate, just drop me a call if you're coming yeah?" Alton held out his right hand and put on the signature smile Curtis knew all too well. It was the kind of smile that he put on whenever he felt like he had just done something amazing. And in a sense, getting Curtis into a party was quite amazing. After all, he did know that he wasn't as socially active as most of the people around.

Curtis took his hand, but exchanged another glance at the tanned girl, becoming increasingly wary of how much she was looking at him. "Yeah, alright…I've got your number, so don't worry, I'll call you."

"Alright then, I shall see you at Saffron this weekend then!" Alton said, with a slight cockiness in his voice. Curtis caught sight of the tanned girl winking at him, but by the time his brain had registered it he had already turned tail and started to head back to the main group. _Don't worry_, he thought to himself. _It's for the better you didn't stay._

He found himself a small space in the circle just as Vince finished explaining his final battle in the league. He didn't really see why, anyway; it wasn't as if everyone had seen it on TV already.

"…Yeah, so there was this massive explosion, right? And like you couldn't see shit through any of it. But then the smoke clears, and I can literally just hear so much shit in my head…but then I look, and I see this little bastard," he nodded at Scyther, who was drifting away to sleep, "I see this bastard standing next to that Magmortar, and then it turns out Magmortar's fainted and he's fucking won it!" Vince took out an almost-empty packet of cigarettes before opening it and spilling out the remaining two still intact in the packet onto the ground.

He picked them up and threw the empty packet over his shoulder, disrupting a young couple sitting on a bench by the main path. He turned to Curtis. "You feel like a fag right now, then, or…?"

Curtis hadn't really smoked properly before, but he felt like he had to, seeing as it had been quite a few months since he had last seen Vince. "Alright, then…"

"Alright, cool then mate," Vince replied before getting up off the grass, signalling for Curtis to come with him. Curtis pulled himself off the ground, subconsciously aware that the grass he had sat in had dew formed on it and anxious that some of the people around were able to see a wet patch on the back of his jeans. Nevertheless, he continued and followed Vince down the path, pulling up next to him a mere seconds later.

It was around that moment when Curtis realised that the tanned girl he had noticed earlier was sitting by the path, staring at him with that same seductive stare that had somewhat intimidated him before.

"Hey."

Curtis turned to face her, trying not to look overpowered. Vince smirked; he backed off slightly and started to light his cigarette. "Hey there," he replied nervously.

"I'm Jade."

"I'm Curtis…" He shifted awkward, trying to stop the thoughts of how sexy she was in auburn plats and a skimpy blue top entering his head.

There was a short awkward pause. Vince tried his hardest not to laugh from afar as he lit his cigarette and puffed.

Jade giggled. "You realise I know full well you're staring at me right now?" There was another short pause as Curtis's cheeks turned red.

"Let's just cut to the chase here, shall we?" Jade put on a cynical look. "It's blatantly obvious you want me. And to be honest, you are kinda fit. So…I'm prepared to strike up a bit of a deal with you." She sidled up close to him. "If you manage to beat Erika…I'll have sex with you. How does that sound?"

Curtis could barely do anything but stand there, blushing and paralyzed. She pushed him playfully. "Of course, that's if you _can_ beat Erika."

"Y-Yeah…" Curtis could barely even stammer, let alone properly respond.

"So," Jade continued, with a smirk painted across her face, "show me that Rainbow Badge soon, okay? I know it'll be very rewarding for you." She giggled again. "See you this weekend, I hope."

Curtis just stood and stared as she walked, both completely shocked at what happened and baffled at how lucky he had just gotten.

Before he could even think, Vince was next to him again. "Oh my god, fuck me Curts," he said excitedly, "strangely enough, I cannot believe how fucking in there you are!"

Curtis tried to find the correct words to respond to that; however, he eventually submitted to watching two Meowth playing on a dustbin while Vince struggled to control his laughter.

"You are absolutely fucking priceless, you know that mate? Just amazing, absolutely amazing." He put his arm around Curtis and headed back to the group, dragging Curtis along with him. "Absolutely fucking amazing…"


	2. Episode 1: Chapter 2

Curtis leaned back on the grey sofa, looking out of the window. It was already getting dark – he watched the sun slowly hide behind the trees and bushes that formed the edge of Celadon City. Vince lived on the northern tip; or, as Vince liked the call it, 'the posh place above the shithole'. Curtis smiled to himself as he remembered this; he and Vince used to play around south Celadon all the time. The dark alleyways always used to creep him out and they explored Celadon's every nook and cranny.

"What are you lookin' so sceptical about, Curt?"

Curtis turned to face the person he was next to; a girl of around his age, with short, brown hair that went down to her shoulders. She was wearing a grey hoodie with a Skarmory pattern embedded on it. If she were to do it up, Curtis knew it would have the words "no fear" written along the bottom end; however, she had it undone as she lay on the sofa, feet up against a leather chair she had pushed towards her.

He smiled at her. "Not much really, just remembering past times, you know, Chloe?"

"Yeah, I get you. Thing with Celadon is that people always have so many memories of this place, unlike towns like Lavender, where it's all just so dead." Chloe reached into her pocket and pulled out a Blackberry with a Kyogre printing so vivid that Curtis couldn't help but envy her. She let out a groan of frustration shortly afterward. "Fucking Vince," she muttered angrily. "The twat says he'll be here in another half an hour."

Curtis laughed. "Does he ever come home on time?"

At this, Chloe burst out laughing. "Not really, no. He says he's stuck in a traffic jam along Route 16. Apparently there's some Snorlax stuck in the middle of the road, and they've only just managed to wake it up." She started typing out a message on her phone. "I'm just gonna tell him he'd better be here soon or he's fucked. I've got a History essay I have to write for tomorrow and I'm not getting screwed over just because Vince doesn't know how to plan his time properly."

Curtis chuckled slightly. Chloe always had a way of turning situations into jokes; he couldn't help but admire her positive attitude.

She got up and put her phone back in the pocket of her shorts. "In the meantime, do you want some tea or something?" she asked. "I'm kinda thirsty, and honestly I'd much rather make it now than when Vince gets here."

* * *

Despite Vince's reassurance that he was only half an hour away, the streetlights were already on by the time Curtis and Chloe saw Vince walk down the road towards the house.

Chloe heard the key slowly turn in the lock. "There he is," she muttered to herself. "The fucking Dunsparce himself." Curtis struggled to control his laughter as Vince stumbled through the doorway, seemingly out of breath.

"Hey, Vince…" Curtis called out, but Chloe silenced him. The idea puzzled him for a few moments, but then he chuckled slightly. Chloe always had subtle ways of making bad situations worse… but funnier.

"Hey, babes," Vince said as he looked over at his girlfriend, who was looking down at the phone resting on her shorts. He reached into the pocket of his dark denim jeans and pulled out three Pokéballs, before slamming them onto the desk. Curtis couldn't help but be impressed by the black and red-coloured glamorous one in between the two normal-decorated ones; that was one Pokéball he had not seen before, let alone expected someone like Vince to own one.

"My fucking belt broke when I was in Fuschia, so I had to carry these things in my pocket," he groaned. Curtis looked slyly at Chloe, who exchanged a glance which seemed to say _Why the hell am I going out with this guy?_ before looking away again.

Vince walked over to the sofa which Curtis and Chloe were reclining on before attempting to move in for a kiss. Chloe just turned away, however, facing Curtis with an expression of _Fucking help me_ just as Vince managed to peck her cheek.

"What's the matter, babes? Won't you kiss me now?"

Chloe smirked. "So you turn up an hour late after we haven't seen each other for a while, and you expect me to kiss you?"

Vince seemed to look beaten, but Curtis could still trace some cockiness in his voice. "Babes…it'll happen one way or another. Come on, let's just do it."

Chloe gently nudged him away as he moved in a second time before getting up. "Like that's happening tonight, Vince. You've already put me in enough shit now."

"Babes, what is it?"

"History essay. Something about the Tanoby Ruins or something. I doubt you've even heard of the Sevii Islands, so you can fuck off." Chloe flipped the bird to Vince as she grabbed a synthetic fur coat and turned the door handle. As the door shut loudly behind her, Vince turned to Curtis.

"Girls, mate…believe me, make sure you get a fuck buddy, if anything. Girlfriends are sometimes hell to put up with."

"I can see that," Curtis remarked, which caused Vince to light slap him around the back of the head.

"So…anyway, Curtis…I heard about your little fiasco with Jade there…"

"Only what I told you, remember?" Curtis nudged Vince slightly before starting to laugh himself.

Vince chuckled. "So how you gonna go about…you know…the business?"

"I'm gonna need a Rainbow Badge first, really," Curtis replied hesitantly, while flicking a tuft of hair out of his face. "That's what she said…"

Vince chuckled. "Classic Jade, that is; always testing her potential suitors. She's been like that for years, even when I fucked her. She barely remembers me, though." Vince collapsed onto the sofa in a heap, narrowly missing crushing Curtis, who could hear the wind rush past his face.

Briefly, Curtis considered telling Vince the truth – that he was approached by _her_, and not the other way round – but the idea seemed to die the moment it entered his head. After all, Vince had been trying to get him laid since they both turned 16, and while Vince was largely successful, Curtis just seemed to plod along behind at a Slowpoke's pace. At least if Vince thought he managed to do it all by himself he'd have at least a bit more respect for him.

Vince looked at him. "Tell you what, mate," he said. "I know your Pokémon aren't that strong, right? Not strong enough to beat Erika, at least." Curtis was tempted to protest, but realized there was a hint of truth in what Vince was saying. "How about you stay over for a bit and we can think this through, yeah? My parents'll be out anyways and I doubt Chloe's coming back tonight. She gets all stroppy and shit at times."

Curtis smiled; although Vince was quite annoying at times, he always had some sort of way of convincing him into doing things. "Alright," he replied, after a short pause. "Sounds good."

"Great!" Vince patted him on the back. "So… what do you wanna do now, then?" Vince's eyes gazed over at his old games console over on the other side of the room. Curtis saw him looking at it. They'd spent hours upon hours playing on that thing when they were kids.

They both seemed to get the same idea at the same time. Vince strolled over and flicked it on, as it sprung to life with a Shadow Lugia theme and the recognisable theme. "Fancy a bit of Apokélypse 2, Curtis?"

* * *

It wasn't until well into the nostalgic night when Vince finally came up with an idea.

There was a loud roar coming from the console. "Oh fuck yes!" Vince exclaimed cockily. "40,000 kills with Lucario! Fuck yes!"

"Wow, mate," Curtis uttered, astonished. Even he was impressed; he always used to be the natural at Apokélypse, but his highscore was only around 25,000 – and that was with Rayquaza. "Your guy must be on like Pokérus or something, that's fucking amazing right there."

The victory fanfare blaring out of the console subsided as it got replaced with the main menu theme again. "Wait, Curtis…" Vince turned to face him. "That's it, mate! That's it!"

"What's it…?" Curtis started to say, but his mind went faster than his mouth as his thoughts caught up to him. "Oh, wait-"

"I know, perfect right?" Vince cut him off. "I know a couple guys, yeah? I can just ask them to supply us with a couple shots of Pokérus, right? Then you can inject some into your guys, and BAM! You can watch as they utterly destroy Erika!"

Curtis felt quite sceptical. "It is, like, illegal, though, Vince…"

"Oh, don't worry about it mate!" Vince tried to reassure him, but his shouting didn't really seem to help Curtis. "We've done quite a few drugs before, right?"

_Vince_ was_ right_, thought Curtis. They had done quite a few illegal substances before. However, Curtis knew all too well that Kanto was becoming very strict about its laws regarding Pokérus – the drug specifically designed for Pokémon to cheat their way up levels. If they were caught, however…Curtis shuddered. He didn't want to even think about the possibility.

"Honestly, Vince, I'm not too sure if this is a good idea…"

"Curtis, trust me. It'll be fine." Vince took on a slightly more reassuring tone. "I just know a couple people, all right? I can call them tomorrow, and then we can go and pick up the drugs, and then we can come back, you can put them into your guys and we won't need to worry about it anymore. Okay?"

"Umm…" Curtis thought for a moment. "I guess, as long as we do it together…"

"No worries, mate," Vince assured him. "It's plain and simple. Now, up for another round? I'll be, like, Jirachi this time. Give you a little bit more of an advantage, eh?"

Curtis slapped him gently on the side of his head. Jirachi was pretty much a joke character anyway.

* * *

Curtis looked up at the clock. The hour hand was pointed at the 8…or was it the 3? He couldn't tell from the angle he had been sleeping at.

Getting up, Curtis noticed his original assumption that it was eight o'clock was true after all. He noticed Vince had gotten up long before him, now dressed in a dark leather jacket and slim-fitting blue jeans.

"Morning, mate," Vince said brightly. "So you up for picking up the PR today? I've called them and everything."

Curtis nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's cool." He couldn't help but think that although his was sceptical about the idea, it seemed like a good idea now. This seemed to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to him, and his vision of finally losing his virginity overcame his morals about Pokémon training and drugs.

"We're leaving now, yeah? You might wanna hurry up." It took Curtis a short amount of time to quickly grab his shoes and step out of the door. The sky was a clear blue, and he could hear the Pidgey chirping on the edge of the forest surrounding Celadon.

"So, where are we headed then, Vince?"

Vince thought for a moment. "I think they said they wanted to meet us in the shithole – you know, that south end. I think we should take a 19 to the Game Corner and then I think we walk to that pond and turn right. I think he's waiting for us around there."

"Sounds good then, mate," Curtis replied as they started walking. Two blondes walked past in what was obviously their going out gear – Curtis chuckled as he realized they were taking the walk of shame back home. However, that didn't stop them from saying a cheeky "Hey, Vince," as they passed them.

"Slags," Vince whispered to Curtis after they had walked past. "Trust me, I would never waste my time on them."

* * *

They arrived at the Game Corner less than half an hour later. As they stepped out of the bus, Curtis noticed that it had gotten considerably warmer than when they had set out from the north side of the city. He had sent out one of his Pokémon as well on the journey – it seemed to bask in the warmth of the sun on his shoulder. Curtis knew that having what Vince called a 'purple ball of fur' on his shoulder was attracting weird looks from people who thought he had become an Ash Ketchum wannabe, but he didn't mind. Having his prized Nidoran there to accompany him just made him feel more comfortable.

Vince looked at Curtis as they stepped off the bus and watched its glimmering green coat of paint fade away onto the road.

"Look, mate…" he said hesitantly, "I kinda have to split now, yeah? You know the directions, right?"

Curtis nodded; even though Vince was leaving, he didn't feel intimidated by the task. It was so simple; find the guy Vince told him about – he had a description on him – get the drugs, and go back to Vince's with a job well done and a surefire way of beating Erika. And then getting laid. _Perfect_.

"Alright, I'll see you at mine once you get the stuff, right Curtis?"

"Cool, man," Curtis replied. He waves and Vince turned away. "See ya."

Curtis smiled as he turned right towards the residential square where the dealer was waiting for him. His Nidoran shared his optimism, snuggling against his shoulder as he walked.

He had no idea he was being followed.


	3. Episode 1: Chapter 3

Vince walked up to the bright red door before knocking on it three times. Normally he wouldn't be seen dead anywhere near this area of Celadon City, but this time it was an exception. His heart started beating slightly faster as he heard footsteps coming down the stairs from inside the small, cream-coloured house.

The door creaked open, and standing inside the house just behind the porch was a girl with long, blonde hair wearing a bathrobe. Vince remembered her as Nicki de la Forina – he had gone up against her in the first round of the Pokémon League, as he recalled. He could all too easily remember the moment when her Floatzel fell to a quick slash from his Scyther's scythes, and the intense joy he felt as he tasted victory inside the walls of Indigo Plateau for the first time.

But he wasn't seeing Nicki for a trip down memory lane. He had some other business to attend to.

Vince stepped inside the house. "Hey there, Nicki," he said as he brought the door to a close behind him. He could barely start his next sentence before Nicki dragged him towards her and kissed him passionately on the lips.

"Should we go upstairs?" Nicki purred, seductively. Vince took her by the hand and starting leading her up, still kissing her every other step or so.

"You're so fucking beautiful, you know that?" Vince grinned. Nicki giggled, whilst moving in for another kiss as Vince kicked the door to her room shut behind him.

* * *

Curtis looked around nervously. This _was_ the right place, wasn't it? Vince _did_ tell him it was Starmie Square. He turned around to examine the sign.

**Starmie Square – CD11**

He ignored his conscience and focused on his logic. The sign said it was the right place, so it must be. He tapped his foot anxiously. With each passing second time seemed to slow and his confidence seemed to drop.

"Why the hell am I doing this again?" he muttered to himself, trying to ease away the anxiety.

He was so intent on looking out over the square for the dealer he was looking for that he did not notice the burly, biker-like figure walking down the alleyway directly towards him.

Before he could utter a single word, he was suddenly pushed against the wall with a tremendous force, two massive, bulky hands pressed against his now quivering neck.

"Give me all your fucking money!" the man shouted at him, spitting in his face as his words pierced Curtis's eardrums.

Curtis trembled as the biker pressed against his shoulder blades. He tried his best not to cry out in pain. "I don't have any money!" he tried to say, but with his neck and shoulders almost being crushed, it came out as an imcomprehensible "I-I-I…duu...hv…"

Swiftly, the biker lifted one of his hands off Curtis's neck. However, the relief was only short lived before the biker proceeded to punch him hard in the stomach.

"I know you fucking have money! Why the fuck else would you be hanging around here waiting for him?"

Curtis could barely breathe – that brutal punch had knocked almost all the wind out of him. He was almost certain he would die here, at the hands of this man, overpowered and helpless. In his mind, he was already cursing Vince for convincing him to do this, for leaving at the last moment and encouraging to go alone. However, just as Curtis started to pray for his life, a great shout rang throughout the square.

"Get your filthy palms off him!"

This was followed by a series of barks and growls, as Curtis noticed a pack of Houndoom, Liepard and Mightyena rushing towards them with the slightest amount he could turn his head. He noticed one of the Houndoom grabbing onto the biker before pulling him off him, with the other Pokémon around helping. He could just stand, mesmerized, as the wolf Pokémon took down the burly biker that seemed just about to kill him.

Curtis collapsed by the wall, quietly laughing at himself. He could not believe his intense burst of luck.

"Get up, would ya?"

Curtis opened his eyes to find a man looking at him, holding a hand out. He looked in his early twenties, with blond, spiked hair and a studded earring in one ear. As much as he felt like it was quite over-the-top, Curtis couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated as he got up and realised that the man towered over him by at least a couple feet.

"They call me Trent," he said. "You know what you're here for."

Curtis just stared at him, motionless.

"That's 200,000 Pokédollars."

Curtis hastily dug his hand into his pocket, desperately feeling for the wad of money he had left in there. Once he finally brushed against the notes, he pulled the wad out and gave it to Trent without a word.

Trent took the money silently before examining the exact amount on the pile of notes. He looked up at Curtis. "It's thin," he said, simply.

Curtis thought for a moment. He glanced down at the wad of notes Trent was holding. _He's right, it does look thin._

No sooner had that thought passed over his head that he remembered why it seemed so thin. _Shit! Vince! Vince, that bastard! He still has half of it! He forgot to give it to me!_

Trent stepped towards Curtis menacingly. One of his Houndoom growled.

"I don't appreciate being conned."

Curtis felt his heart starting to beat faster as he started to back into the wall. "L-Look," he stuttered. "T-The money…I have more of it. It's j-just… just not on me right now…" Curtis nervously looked around, afraid of what was to come.

Needless to say, Curtis was slightly surprised when Trent did nothing more than forcefully press a small bag into his hand.

"Here's your shit. Tomorrow, same time, here." Curtis looked at him, relieved. "You'd better be there."

As Trent turned tail, Curtis breathed an intense sigh of relief. However, the same Houndoom that was growling earlier snarled at him again, as if to warn him, before following Trent along with the rest of its pack.

_Holy fuck..._

* * *

It was more than an hour later that the door to Nicki's room, with posters of S Cavalier and The Floatzels scattered on it, finally opened.

Vince stepped out of the room, a grin spread out on his face. He turned back to face Nicki, still under the bedcovers in the room. "That was amazing, Nicki," he said with a smile.

Nicki winked at him. "You're so very welcome," she replied.

As Vince headed down the stairs, his steps echoing around the house in a flurry of triumph, a door adjacent to Nicki's room opened slightly. This one had no posters on it, and seemed quite plain in comparison. A boy of no older than 15 poked his head out before opening the door completely and stepping out. He was dressed in a white vest and a pair of cargo shorts.

"I saw him go past," he called out to Nicki. He spoke in a slight Sinnish accent. "He's quite fit, wouldn't you say?"

The boy saw a hand peer out of the door, which changed shape to flip him the bird. "Shut the fuck up, Lee," Nicki called from the other room.

* * *

Curtis checked his watch. Half an hour had passed. Half an hour he had been waiting for Vince on his doorstep. Curtis sighed; since he had picked up the drugs, Vince should at least have the dignity to return on time.

_What the hell's keeping him, anyway?_

Curtis checked his phone again. He had called Vince twice already, without any response. He was getting fed up of waiting.

He held his phone to his ear, calling Vince again. It rung once. Twice. Thrice.

No answer.

"For fuck's sake," Curtis sighed to himself. "Hey, Vince, I've been waiting here like an hour and you just haven't arrived, you know? I've picked up the Pokérus, mate. I-I'll go back to my place and you can call me when you get back, yeah?"

He put his phone back in his pocket and got up. "Fucking Vince," he muttered to himself, walking away from his house. It didn't really matter, though; his house was only a quick 3 bus ride taking him a few stops. The best part of 10 minutes, provided the bus came early. As he started walking, he took out his earphones and started untangling them. He noticed the Groudon pattern that was printed on them when he had first bought them was starting to show signs of wear.

It was unfortunate that he was busy untangling the earphones, as if he had look up for just a second before he turned the corner onto a main road he would have seen Vince walking along the road towards his house.

Curtis paid no attention, as the gripping tunes of S Cavalier started to blare through his headphones and he immersed himself in the electro-based sound.

* * *

"Nidoran, Elekid… come out."

Curtis pressed the buttons on the Pokéballs of his two Pokémon as they materialised in a white light in front of him.

"So… yeah," Curtis trailed off before he even started his sentence. "I've kinda got these here…" he held up the bag of Pokérus. Elekid seemed disinterested; it just sat on the floor, seemingly playing with dust as the Nidoran gazed at the bluish powder in the bag.

"S-So… if I inject this into you... you'll become really… erm…" Curtis trailed off again.

_Is this really such a good idea?_

Curtis thought to himself. He never thought he would end up cheating his way through training when he started training his Pokémon. He had a nagging conscience that it was wrong, but he never really felt it as he took the drugs from Trent, the intimidating dealer. However, as he readied the first syringe to inject into his Nidoran, he realised how wrong it must be. Injecting his own Pokémon with possibly toxic substances… surely if he really cared about his Pokémon, he would strengthen them through training and bonding with them. Not drugging them.

He remembered the S Cavalier song he was listening to before. It seemed to cover the subject completely. As he watched his Nidoran groom its purple fur, the lyrics played through his head over and over.

_What's the point of getting fame, if you never really played the game?_

He realised that Rust was right. There was no point in reaching the destination if you missed out on the journey. He remembered a video game he and Vince used to play – Doduo and the Lost Treasure.

Vince always used Ralts' Teleport to get to the final treasure quickly, within 15 minutes. Curtis used to object to Vince's method of playing; he always insisted that he played without using Ralts or any of the other secrets. It seemed much more rewarding than cheating.

That was what he felt as he looked at his Pokémon, and then at the syringe that was filled with the blue powder.

"This is fucked up…" Curtis said to himself, and then to his Pokémon. "This really isn't fucking right at all… I can't just pump you up with drugs and expect you to come out okay…"

Curtis breathed in deeply. "Return, you two." He called back his Pokémon as they were absorbed back into their balls with a red light.

Curtis collapsed on the bed. _This is all so fucked up._

* * *

Curtis was still lying face down in his bed when his phone dazzled into life again. He stretched out his arm to his phone again, bringing it to his ear.

"Yeah, hello?"

"_Curtis! Hey man, I'm with Chloe right now. It's cool you picked up the stuff, yeah. You gave it to your guys, right?"_

"Yeah, I did," Curtis lied. "It worked as well."

"_Oh, sick one. Hey, I was wondering, do you wanna see this new film with me and Chloe now? It starts in about an hour, so if you wanna come…"_

"Alright then, sure," Curtis replied. "I'll be at yours in like half an hour, yeah?"

"_Cool, man. See you there."_

"Bye."


	4. Episode 1: Chapter 4

_I swear that old guy fucking lives outside this gym…_

The old man Curtis was thinking about was the strange homeless bum sitting at the wall of the towering structure Curtis was heading towards. Curtis glanced over at him. He had a can of Phanpy's beer, which he was glugging down aggressively. As Curtis watched him with both fascination and disgust, he noticed that there was a small mound of drunken cans of beer beside him. The old man stared back at Curtis after tossing away another can, before motioning towards the building.

"You h-heading in that gym, b-boy?" he slurred at Curtis, a hiccup slightly interrupting his sentence, before attempting to stand up, his hand pressed against the glass window. Curtis didn't respond, instead trying to hurry his pace along the concrete path, lined with flowers, towards the gym.

"I-It's great, isn't it?" the man shouted at him. Curtis could see the people in the gym turn their gazes onto the drunken man leaning against the side. "It's full of women!"

Curtis blushed slightly as he hurried down the path before the doors of the building opened up for him. He rushed inside, trying not to let the old man say anything else to embarrass him.

Once the automatic doors shut behind him, he found himself getting looks from girls all around the gym. Some of them were quite fit, a few were ugly, but they all were giving strange looks to him.

"Uh… s-sorry," Curtis stammered nervously. "He was just…"

He hadn't even thought up a good explanation when he was interrupted by a knock on the window. Curtis didn't even turn; he knew the man was just making a complete fool of him, but he tried not to care, no matter how embarrassed he felt.

"Look, can you lot just tell me where Erika is?" Curtis blurted out, in an attempt to get their attention away from the old man that was humiliating him in front of them.

"Sure," one of the girls answered. "Just promise me you'll stop staring at our tits, okay?"

Curtis flushed red. He hadn't even noticed he was doing it.

* * *

Chloe hummed to herself. Unlike Vince, she didn't have a massive hangover from the previous night, mainly because she had left Vince's excessive drinking uncontrolled. Instead, while Vince slept, she focused on cleaning her house before her parents woke up and realised what happened the night before.

She lay down on the sofa and turned the TV on. She felt like she deserved a bit of relaxation after what was practically hard labour she had done collecting all the empty cans of Phanpy's and wiping stains of vodka and tequila off the floor. At least The Pichu Brothers was on now. She was surprised it was still running; she always used to watch that show as a kid.

However, after just settling down on the sofa, she was interrupted by a loud crash coming from the floor above, followed by a loud, slightly muffled "Fuck!" from her room. She rolled her eyes; apparently, Vince had finally woken up from his drunken slumber.

"Well look who fucking finally decided to show up," Chloe said sarcastically as she looked up at Vince, who had appeared at the bottom of the stairs dressed only in a pair of blue shorts.

"Morning, babes," Vince replied, painfully trying to avoid the fact that he might have broken something upstairs. "Where's Curtis gone?"

Chloe glared at him. "He left earlier," she replied, bluntly. "Thought you'd have the decency to see him off, you know?"

Vince retaliated by simply heading over to the sofa before giving a quick kiss to Chloe on the lips. "Come on, babes," he whispered, "don't be cold. It was a good night, wasn't it?"

Chloe pushed him away. "At least freshen your breath, Vince. Christ, it fucking stinks."

Vince, beat, backed off slightly. "Oh, yeah, Chloe…" he added, "where did Curtis go anyway?"

"Muttered something about Erika before taking off," she answered. "He didn't seem the type to go around challenging Gym Leaders, you know?"

"He's probably got his reasons." There was a short silence between them before Chloe turned off the TV and decided to break it.

"You might wanna get changed, Vince," Chloe said. "I don't really want you strolling round my house half naked when my parents get up."

Vince sighed. "Guess you think they'll get jealous of you for having such a sexy guy like me?" he replied cheekily.

"You fucking wish."

* * *

"So, kid. Battle, then?"

Curtis tried not to act nervous, attempting to stop his left hand, which was clutching a Pokéball, from shivering. "Y-Yeah. That's why I came here, obviously."

The girl opposite Curtis was dressed in a very strange yellow dress which he could only describe as significantly foreign, like she had just been taken out of a book of Hoennian culture. Her jet black hair flowed down to her shoulders before seemingly coming to an abrupt halt.

"I thought so." The girl smirked. "Anyway, I'll assume you know who I am. But I'll tell you anyway. I'm Erika; leader of the Celadon Gym and a master of drugs and perfumes. If you beat me," she pointed at a strange emblem on her dress, "you get this Rainbow Badge. I didn't come up with the design, so don't judge me." She said those words sarcastically, as if Curtis had no right to judge her.

Erika enlarged a Pokéball she was holding in her hand. "What do you say we get this going?" She tossed it into the air – after doing a couple odd somersaults, a beam of white light erupted from it as it burst open. The white light slowly formed into the shape of a strange sort of pitcher plant, its white eyes staring intently at Curtis, as if daring him to send out something to battle it. Curtis was no proper trainer, but even he could feel a sense of admiration from the fact that he was facing a Victreebel.

"Alright, then," he said to himself, "let's do this." He threw his own Pokéball out in front of him; after a few yards, a bright light emitted from it as well and his Nidoran appeared on the floor, baring its fangs at its opponent, unaware of what Curtis thought was a complete mismatch, even if he had what seemed to be a type advantage.

Erika smiled; Curtis noticed she must have seen the mismatch as well. "Victreebel, let's just end this already, shall we?" She winked at Curtis tauntingly. "Sludge Bomb!"

The yellow pitcher automatically sprung into action, purple, putrid sludge spraying forcefully from its mouth at the purple rodent.

"Quickly, dodge that!" Curtis retaliated, but to no avail; no sooner had he issued the command when the sludge had already hit the Nidoran, followed by a cry of pain as it tumbled backwards.

"Fuck… Nidoran, get up! Don't let it hit you again!"

As the Victreebel readied up another Sludge Bomb, the rodent climbed to its feet again before its opponent released another flurry of sludge. However this time the Nidoran was ready; as the plant fired the second blast of sludge, it athletically jumped out of the way before starting to run around the plant, disorienting it and trying to protect itself from any more hits.

"Nice one, Nidoran!" Curtis called from the sidelines. "Alright, now use Quick Attack!"

Curtis noticed Erika chuckle to himself as he gave that order, his Pokémon starting to pick up speed while leaving a short trail behind it.

"Vine Whip."

Just as the purple Pokémon started to throw itself into its larger opponent, the Victreebel seized it with a thick, green vine.

"Now throw the damn thing into the ground."

Curtis swore to himself. The vine that had enveloped his Nidoran was slowly starting to rise. Curtis felt as if he could only stand there, helpless, as Victreebel suddenly forced the vine – and the Pokémon it was holding – down with great force until it smashed into the ground. Once. Twice. Thrice…

"Nidoran!" Curtis called out, concerned. "Return!" He held out Nidoran's Pokéball as a beam of red light enveloped his weakened Pokémon, its purple form dematerializing into the ball.

"You really aren't a battler, are you?" Erika asked slyly. "No offense, kid, but if your first Pokéon was like that I doubt you'll win with the next one. You get me, right?"

Curtis sighed. So this was it. Because of the ways he felt that using Pokérus would be like cheating the system, there would be no victory. No Rainbow Badge, no sex with Jade… it would be as if all of this was for nothing. He regretted ever listening to Vince about powering up his Pokémon, especially since he wasn't going to use it in the first place.

He was eventually called out of his miserable thoughts, however.

"Kid," Erika said to him, now next to him on his side of the battlefield. "You aren't a proper trainer, are you?"

Curtis chuckled slightly. "Nah, not really…"

"You're more of a chill guy, right? Listen…" she spoke more quietly, "I kinda have a spliff that I need to smoke soon, and I don't really want most of the people round here to know that I still smoke, so…" her voice trailed off slightly. "Do you maybe wanna chill for a bit?"

Curtis laughed nervously. "Umm, sure…"

* * *

Contrasting to the rest of the gym and the city it was located in, the back of the building was quite tranquil, seeing as it was on the very edge of the city. Erika and Curtis lay on the well-trimmed grass, the smoke from Erika's spliff hovering in the air around them like a Bellossom's aroma. Curtis held the spliff to his lips and drew in a long drag. He had done weed a few times in the past – usually pressured by Vince – however, none of the cannabis that Vince had smoked with him ever felt this… _pure_ to him.

Erika smiled at him. "Do you like it?" she asked.

Curtis looked at her. "It's really good," he finally replied. "Quite different from a lot that I've tried, though."

"This stuff is imported from Hoenn," she mentioned. "They give it such a good feeling farmers here can't really duplicate. It's like the climate there or something…" She drew out a long breath, letting the smoke flow freely through her mouth and nostrils.

"Well…" Curtis paused to think, "it's definitely such a nice sensation."

Erika looked at him and smiled. "Glad you think so," she replied, taking in another drag.

There were a few moments of silence as they alternated drags as the spliff slowly burned out.

"So, tell me," Erika finally said, "tell me… about life in general, Curtis… right? How is it?"

"It's…" Curtis stopped for a moment. "Certainly interesting…" he responded. "I have to at least give it that, you know?"

"How so?"

"Well…" he paused to inhale another careful breath from the spliff, "I guess there's been a lot going on lately… I mean, my mates have all been kinda pressuring, and to be honest it makes me think… do you remember Vince? From the league?"

Erika giggled. "Yeah, I watched his match the other day. He's quite the stunner, I have to say."

Curtis sighed. "That's what they all say, isn't it?"

"I guess." Erika laughed before stubbing out the tiny remainder of the spliff they had left and tossing it nonchalantly behind her.

There was another period of silence as the two stared up into the sky. Curtis had focused on a strange-looking cloud that seemed to look like Jade when viewed from the correct angle. A flock of Pidgeot flew through it and Curtis noticed their elegant forms gliding across the sky. Watching them seemed to make him feel better. As if he had no need to care about anything in the world. It was a very euphoric sensation.

Erika tapped him on the hand, motioning for him to open it. As Curtis complied, she gently placed something into it before closing it up again.

"It's the badge," Erika whispered. "I know you didn't win, but… it feels like you've earned it."

Curtis looked at Erika. "Thanks…"

"You're welcome." Erika smiled, before raising herself up with her hands. "You know, I think I should be heading back to the gym…"

Curtis looked over at her. "Alright then, Erika. Take care, okay?"

"You too, kid. You too."

It seemed like only a few moments before Curtis had already headed to Saffron City with Alton, the screeching synths and pounding bass of what only Luxray Guard could perfect etching into his brain.


End file.
